Wyndemere. Nikolas' Bedroom.
Nikolas' cell phone rang. He woke up and picked it up.
"Cassadine. ... What do you mean? ... Keep an eye on her husband. Let me know when he changes locations. ... Thank you."
Nikolas hung up and hurried to his closet.
**************************************
Jason's Penthouse.
Jason came down the stairs. The pounding on his door was definitely Sonny's. He could hear the rage from upstairs.
Jason opened the door. Yeah. Sonny.
"Get me Spinelli. Now."
"He isn't here."
"What do we pay him for?"
"What's wrong?"
"Claudia is missing."
***************************************
Dr. Waters' Office. General Hospital.
Claudia sat alone in the office. Her foot was tapping uncontrollably on the floor.
Johnny came in. "What's going on?"
"You have to leave town now," she said, pushing herself out of the chair.
"Calm down."
"I will not calm down. Michael went all wacko last night. Pulled a gun on me. I'm done. I'm done waiting. Sonny is going to do something, or Michael is, or Carly is, and we're going to be too late."
The door opened again, and Dr. Waters entered.
"Mrs. Corinthos?"
"You need to induce me. Now."
*****************************************
Johnny's Garage.
Nikolas knocked on the door. "Johnny. It's Nikolas. Are you there?"
If Johnny was there, he wasn't answering. And he wasn't answering his phone either.
Where else could she be?
Nikolas' phone rang. He connected with the call. "Cassadine. ... Good. Keep on him. Let me know if he changes his location again."
Nikolas hung up.
He was running out of time to find Claudia.
*****************************************
Jason's Penthouse.
Spinelli came in, looking a little rumpled.
"Who do you work for? Huh, freaky boy?"
Jason pulled Sonny aside. "Sonny. I get that you're upset. But don't talk to him like that."
"I'll talk to him any damn way I want." He pointed at Spinelli. "You get out your computer and you find my wife."
Spinelli ran up the stairs.
******************************************
Dr. Waters' Office.
"So that's it?"
"Unless you're willing to take the risks involved in inducing early. Mr. Cassadine had the same idea -- it was one of the first things he discussed with me. But once he found out the risks -- "
Claudia let out a scream. "Why is this so difficult? All I want is for him -- " She gestured to her belly. "-- to get out here safely. Is that too much to ask?"
"Mrs. Corinthos, you need to calm down. Any change to your blood pressure will force me to put you on bed rest."
That shut her up. She sat down. Composed herself. Looked at Dr. Waters. "From now on, you call me Claudia. I don't want to hear the name Corinthos ever again."
*******************************************
General Hospital. Nikolas' office.
She hadn't been admitted to the hospital. Alexis said she wasn't at the police station.
Nikolas wracked his brain. He picked up the phone.
*******************************************
Jason's Penthouse.
Spinelli's fingers flew over his keyboard, while Jason and Sonny talked in heated whispers across the room.
"How'd he get a gun?"
"I don't know. But I'm gonna find out."
"Did you tell her that you took care of the gun?"
"I didn't get a chance. She wouldn't let me talk to her. Said we'd talk at breakfast."
Spinelli called out, "I have something."
Sonny and Jason hurried over.
"She called her brother."
Sonny turned to Jason. "Who do we got covering Johnny?"
"Nobody."
Sonny turned to Spinelli. "You," he said. "Start checking into Johnny's phone calls."
He grabbed his coat and left, with Jason in pursuit.
************************************************
Dr. Waters' Office.
"That's it. No discussion."
"You're right, there's no discussion. I'm not leaving now."
Dr. Waters sat behind his desk watching Johnny and Claudia as if they were a tennis match.
Nikolas burst in.
"Good. You're here," Claudia said. "Tell John he has to leave the country. Now."
"What are you doing?," Nikolas asked her. "How am I supposed to protect you when you evade my guard?"
"Your guard was doing an excellent job last night when Michael Corinthos pulled a gun on me."
Nikolas flushed with anger. "Where is Michael now?," he asked in a measured but dark tone.
Johnny stepped between Nikolas and Claudia. "Which one of you is going to be the reasonable one? Because we're running out of time."
Nikolas took Claudia by the elbow. He turned back to Dr. Waters and Johnny. "I'll have her back before her husband gets here. When he gets here, Claudia had an anxiety attack about her blood pressure this morning. So she slipped out to check in with you."
Nikolas pulled Claudia out of the room and led her down the hallway. His phone rang. "Cassadine. ... Thank you. Let me know when he reaches his next destination."
He hung up and pulled Claudia into a supply closet.
"What happened?," he asked her.
She paced around the small space. "I did something."
"What did you do?"
She stopped and faced him. "I've been visiting Michael. In the hospital, and then at the clinic. I talked to him."
"When he was in the coma?"
Claudia nodded.
"What did you tell him?"
"I told him his mother and father loved him and missed him. I told him it was my fault. I told him I was sorry."
Nikolas pulled Claudia closer to him.
"I went every week. It didn't change anything. It didn't make me feel any better. But I thought maybe he could hear me."
"Like your mother."
"Yes," she said.
"He heard you?"
"He remembered. He came to kill me last night. What are we doing?," she asked him.
He didn't need to ask her what she meant. "We're saving you. And your baby."
"I saw Carly last week. And all I could think of was how she'd birthed Michael. Raised him. I took him away. I'm supposed to get away with that?"
"Come here," Nikolas said, helping her down to the floor and sitting beside her. "The night we met, when I asked you why you didn't go to the police about Sonny, you said that in your world, that wasn't how you did things."
"I know, but --"
Nikolas pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. "Even if you went to the police now, you'd be dead in a matter of days. Whether in prison or while you were out on bail. And not because of what you did to Michael. Because you were breaking that stupid Code you all live by. They'd all be scared of anything you might say. And your son would become a victim. Someday, he would."
Claudia began to cry.
"We can't make it right," he said. "No one can fix what happened. In your world or in my world. But we're finding the best way to end this."
He kissed her temple.
Her tears slowed, and she wiped them away.
"I bought a gun," she said.
"When?"
"Today."
"What happened last night? After Michael threatened you."
"Sonny took Michael's gun away. Said he was handling it. Sent me upstairs. I'm not safe any more."
Nikolas was quiet.
"You got me a gun," she said. "When I was in here. So I could feel safe. It makes me feel safe. I can protect myself now."
He pulled her hair back. Turned her face toward him. "I think the gun will make things worse."
"Things can't get any worse, Nikolas."
"Really? What are you going to use the gun for? Can you picture yourself hurting Michael if it came to that?"
Claudia was taken aback by the question. She was silent. And then she raised her eyes to his, and said, "No." Which was pointless, since he already knew the answer.
"Is there any way Sonny might find out you now have a gun?"
Claudia's face fell.
"You have to tell him before he hears it from anyone else. And you have to give him the gun. I don't care what you come up with, but you've got to convince him that you got the gun in a panic, and now you realize there's a better way of dealing with this."
Claudia buried her face in her hands. Nikolas pulled her hands away from her face.
"We're almost there," he said. "When you finally come to the hospital for the last time, you have to come in through the emergency room. And you and Viktor have to be weapon free. Anyone you don't want with you has to be armed. Can you make that happen with what you have to work with right now?"
She pulled herself together. Took a deep breath. Looked him in the eye. "Yes."
"Good." He kissed her. Kissed her belly. Looked at her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm always okay with you. It's everyone else I have a problem with."
He laughed.
"I miss you," she said. "How are you doing without Spencer?"
"I'm managing," he said. "Although he started saying 'please' a lot lately, and I find I've been adding it on to my sentences since he's been gone."
She laughed. "How are you doing without Alfred?"
"Do you think I'm helpless?"
"Only in some areas," she said. She kissed him.
His phone rang again. "Cassadine. ... Thank you. ... You can resume your regular duty when she leaves here with him. " He hung up. "Sonny's here," he said. "Come on." He got up, and helped her up.
"Back to the battle," she said.
"Yes, please," he answered.
*****************************************************
Dr. Waters' Office.
When Sonny arrived, Claudia was having her blood pressure taken by Dr. Waters. Johnny was at her side.
****************************************************
GreyStone. Living Room.
Max, Milo, Sonny and Claudia entered the living room. Sonny headed for the kitchen.
"Sonny," Claudia said.
He turned back to her. "Yeah."
"Can I talk to you?"
Sonny nodded at Max and Milo, and they left the room, leaving Sonny and Claudia together.
Claudia walked over to Sonny. She reached in her purse, took out the gun, and handed it to Sonny.
"I panicked," she said. "After last night."
"Where'd you get this?," he asked.
"Elm Street. I can take care of it, if you want."
"No," he said. "I'll have one of the guys do it."
Claudia went into Oscar bait mode. "I totally get why Michael did what he did. But it scared me. And I have to feel safe right now. For the baby. Dr. Waters says that if my blood pressure changes, I have to go on bed rest. Because I could give birth prematurely."
"He told you that?"
"His exact words were 'Calm down or I'll have to put you on bed rest.' And then he added the lovely premature part. Because it was sure to shoot my blood pressure up."
Sonny sat down on the couch. "Can we talk?," he said.
Claudia sat down a little away from him.
"I know you don't like Dr. Waters," Sonny said.
"It's not that I don't... I don't trust him."
"You don't trust anyone."
"Can you blame me? I need to feel safe. Until the baby's born."
"You are safe."
Claudia fixed Sonny with a highly skeptical stare.
"Tell me what you want me to do," Sonny said. "I'm not promising anything."
"I want a guard who's fully armed, who can take care Helena."
"You don't like the protection Mr. Cassadine is giving you?"
"She took out my guard, Sonny! I'm not carrying a weapon! You think I didn't almost have a meltdown when she clipped me?" Claudia thought tears might be in order, so she shed a few. "She was making jokes about anemia not being good for pregnant women." She turned her head as if to hide her tears from Sonny. Just for good measure.
"You need to calm down."
"I don't get it," she said, openly weeping now. "How can you be so calm? I thought you wanted this baby."
Sonny slid closer to her on the couch. "Hey," he said, reaching for her. "Hey, it's okay. Of course I want this baby. I love our son."
"So how can you risk his life when he's inside me? I need to know that he's taken care of."
"You got it."
Claudia looked up, as if startled. "I do?"
"Yeah," he said. "Michael's not allowed around you anymore. Neither is Carly. And I'll get you an extra guard, on top of my guy following Sven."
"Viktor."
"Whatever. You got three guys now. They'll be armed to the teeth. I'll even have each of my guys carry an extra weapon, just in case of an emergency where you might need one."
Claudia threw her arms around Sonny. "Thank you. Thank you."
Sonny didn't know what to do. He patted her awkwardly. He hoped the hug didn't last long.
***********************************************
Wyndemere. Living Room. Night.
Nikolas brought Viktor into the room.
"Anything new?"
"She has two guards now. And they're carrying extra weapons."
"Very good. Don't forget to go to the emergency room."
"I won't."
"One more thing." Nikolas reached into his pocket and pulled out a photo of Michael. "Make sure this person never gets near her."
"Understood."
***********************************************
In the end, Viktor never had to worry about Michael.
Because two weeks later, at 4:00 PM on a Wednesday, Claudia went into the nursery, closed the door and called Nikolas from a cell phone that had never been used before and was registered in Spencer's name.
"I'm in labor," she said, as quietly as she could. "You can start everything."